The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Rip Van Winkle and the Spectre Bridegr

A stunning new edition of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and other stories including Rip Van Winkle. Little treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader.

First published in The Sketch Book in 1819–20, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who comes to live in Sleepy Hollow, a Dutch settlement near the Hudson River. It is a place that abounds with local superstitions, including one concerning a headless horseman. Crane’s eye is caught by Katrina van Tassel, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, and he starts to court her. This behaviour provokes the ire of another would-be-suitor, Brom Bones, a renowned village prankster. At a party, Crane confesses his love for Katrina, who rejects him. On his way home, he encounters the ‘horseman’, who hurls his head at Crane. Ichabod Crane is never heard of again. The only traces that remained of him were his horse, saddle, hat and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. What did happen to Ichabod Crane that night, and who was the Headless Horseman?

Washington Irving was an American short story writer, essayist, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. He moved to England for the family business in 1815 where he is best known for his short stories Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow , both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Irving was one of the first American writers to earn acclaim in Europe, and he encouraged other American authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe.

Judith John (Glossary) is a writer and editor specializing in literature and history. She has worked as an editor on major educational projects, including English A: Literature for the Pearson International Baccalaureate series. Judith’s major research interests include Romantic and Gothic literature, and Renaissance drama.